Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second from "summary" of The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
According to Haidt, humans are not primarily rational beings who weigh evidence and make decisions based on careful deliberation. Instead, our moral judgments are driven by intuition, with reasoning coming into play only afterwards to justify our initial gut reactions. This idea challenges the common belief that people use reason to reach moral conclusions. When faced with a moral dilemma, our intuitions kick in first, shaping our immediate response before we even have a chance to engage in conscious reasoning. These intuitions are often influenced by our emotions, social upbringing, and cultural background. They are quick, automatic, and powerful, guiding us towards a particular moral stance without us being fully aware of the process. After our intuitions have set the stage, our strategic reasoning comes into play. This reasoning serves to provide post hoc justifications for the moral judgments we have already made intuitively. Instead of carefully weighing evidence and arguments, we tend to search for reasons that support our initial emotional reaction, effectively rationalizing our gut feelings. This two-step process of moral decision-making helps to explain why people can hold such strong and conflicting moral beliefs. While our intuitions may lead us to different conclusions based on our individual experiences and backgrounds, our reasoning allows us to defend these beliefs in a way that appears logical and consistent. By understanding this interplay between intuition and reasoning, we can gain insight into the nature of moral judgment and the factors that shape our moral beliefs. This perspective challenges the traditional view of morality as a purely rational enterprise, highlighting the complex and often unconscious processes that underlie our moral decision-making.
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